Borg Cube
A Borg Cube is a space-faring vessel featured in the Star Trek mythos. They are the standard transportation starships used by the alien race known as the Borg. The Borg, as well as the Borg Cube, made their first appearance in the sixteenth episode of season two of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled "Q Who". Description A Borg Cube ship measures exactly 3,040 meters on each side. Each ship has a crew complement of 640,000 Borg drones, which reside in specially-designed compartments on each deck of the ship, allowing them to interface directly with the ship's mainframe systems. A cube ship is capable of surpassing speeds in excess of Warp 9.6. Star Trek: The Next Generation: Q Who Borg cubes are extremely generalized in their design and are notable for their unconventional structure. There is no command center, no engineering station, no living quarters and no bridge. Borg cubes are equipped with nurseries where infant Borg are kept in small, incubator compartments. From birth, human children are implanted with Borg technology, which grows and interfaces with their biology through each stage of their development. As a whole however, the Borg do not procreate through conventional means. History The crew of the [[USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D|USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D]] made first contact with the Borg on Stardate: 42761.3-42761.9 in the year 2365. Due to the machinations of the omnipotent being known as Q, the Enterprise was hurled into an unidentified sector of the galaxy where they encountered the Borg. Captain Jean-Luc Picard sent Commander William Riker, Lt. Commander Data and Lieutenant Worf onto the cube to provide a threat analysis. They discovered that the ship was unlike any design they had ever seen before and was more like a virtual mausoleum for Borg drones than an an actual Starship. The Borg registered the officers' presence, but did not perceive them as a threat. However, the Borg took interest in the Enterprise itself and sought to assimilate it. The Enterprise fired several proton torpedoes at the cube, damaging more than 20% of the ship, but the cube's replication technology automatically reconstituted the damaged areas and they countered the attack by draining the Enterprise 's shields. Picard ordered them to retreatm, but the cube pursued them. The ship would have overtaken the Enterprise had Picard not humbled himself before Q, admitting that he needed his help. Q snapped his fingers and returned the Enterprise to the Alpha Quadrant. However, the Borg were now aware of the existence of Starfleet and they would encounter them many more times. Star Trek: The Next Generation: Q Who Notes & Trivia * Writer/producer Maurice Hurley came up with the idea of the Borg as well as their cube-shaped starships, providing just a rudimentary description of the vessel in the original shooting script. Senior illustrator Rick Sternbach developed the look of the cube and the initial model props were designed by Kim Bailey and Starlight Effects. The original model measured at 3x3x3 ft. Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion See also External Links * Borg Cube at Memory Alpha * Borg Cube at Memory Beta References ----